The Clock Stops
The Clock Stops is a case featured in Criminal Case, it appears as the fifth case in Friend or Foe? and the fifth case overall. It takes place as the fifth case in the North America region. Plot After defeating La Familia at the auction, the team celebrated before receiving a note which detailed they would execute Rosa at sundown unless the team headed to New York City and handed over the land won in the auction. With no time to waste, the team soon rushed to the city. As Nolan told the team he was calling in reinforcements, Bryson insisted they had to do something and suggested he and the player head into the city and see if anyone had seen suspicious activity. The pair then arrived at Grand Central Station to interrogate passer-by's, when the clock resounded around the building. Against the clock was La Familia representative and television personality Kai Moore, strangled by the clock's hands. After calming down a distressed crowd, Suniva completed the autopsy with haste as the team were running out of time. She ascertained that Kai's occipital bone was struck by a blunt instrument before his body was tied to the clock face, letting the hands complete the kill. While Luna insisted the kill was "ingenious", they suspected gangster Alice Crane, El Royale agent Clifford Kent, Vito's sister Alessandra Moretti, and Chief Marnie Branford. As the team reviewed the case in Times Square, a panicked Saffron Niells desperately called out for help, insisting that the victim had kidnapped her. Bryson and the player then took Saffron to the plane, where Joshua brewed Saffron a coffee and Jason interrogated her. Saffron confessed that the night before, agents attacked the Dark Lotus casino and kidnapped her as payback for helping the team gather the funds. When asked how she escaped, she recounted that Kai kept her and Rosa at the Moretti mansion, but that she escaped after Rosa distracted the guards. After racing to the mansion, they found no trace of Rosa, but suspected private investigator Anastasia Gardenia who was also investigating the kidnappings. It was also discovered that Alessandra believed Kai a traitor and placed the necessary surveillance on him. Marnie was confronted when it was discovered she and Vito were a former couple who planned to elope, before fate took them in separate directions. On the plane as sundown approached, the pair worried for Rosa, when they heard that Saffron was trying to flee with a gun in hand. The team then approached Saffron on the runway where she insisted she was going back to the Moretti mansion to save Rosa herself, vowing that she couldn't let Rosa die after saving her. Jason then calmed Saffron down, allowing the pair to discover that Alice was a member of El Royale alongside Clifford, with both of them being ordered to "exterminate" Kai due to his ties to La Familia. It was also discovered that Anastasia was threatened by Kai with fish heads after refusing to accept his bribes. After Aida helped narrow down the evidence, sundown began to creep over the horizon as they confronted Alice for the murder. When confronted, Alice sighed and admitted to the murder, but asked them not to judge her prematurely. Alice then confessed that she didn't kill Kai on the orders of El Royale, also admitting that she was never truly loyal to El Royale, but used the crime syndicate to bolster her own gang in Starlight Shores. Alice then told them that when she received the order to kill Kai, she monitored him to discover an opportunity to let him slip through the net, but soon discovered something worse. Alice then insisted that Kai was heading to poor neighbourhoods and forcing himself on homeless teenagers. Angered, Alice reminded them of what she told them in Starlight Shores; never hurt children. Due to Alice's beliefs, she then decided to kill Kai to get him off the streets, her mercy extinguished. Figuring she could kill two birds with one stone, Alice followed Kai at night and stuck him with a hammer to the back of the skull. As instructed by El Royale, she then tied his unconscious body to the clock and placed the ropes carefully around his neck, so the clock hands would strangle him as time went on. Alice then removed the hammer used to hit Kai from her satchel and placed her hands out, commenting that as long as Kai would never be able to touch another teenager again, she'd accept her punishment with respect. In court, Alice recounted the story to Judge Donovan. Donovan then decided to sentence Alice to thirty years in prison. Before the team could leave, Alice told them that La Familia operatives often met on Liberty Island. Alice was then taken to her cell as the team insisted they needed to find Rosa's location before she was executed. Post-trial, per Alice's confession, Bryson and the player rushed to Liberty Island to investigate La Familia and discover where Rosa was located. After searching the island and finding nothing, Bryson started to panic, saying that La Familia could kill Rosa any minute due to the team not transferring the land. Eventually, however, they spotted braille on the statue's side and investigated it. Tadashi then confirmed the braille was actually Morse code and after translating it with his "detective's handbook", he'd traced the coded message to a safety deposit box in the Manhattan Bank. After speaking to the bank teller and retrieving the safety deposit box, they found a hard drive adorned with the La Familia insignia and analysed it. Eventually, the team discovered the hard drive contained orders to nearby agents to secure the borders of the Moretti hunting lodge where Vito would assassinate Rosa. Dara then armed the team to the teeth and they crept into the hunting lodge, where they found Vito asking Rosa for one last request. After Rosa shakily asked that her request be to live, Vito snapped and cocked the gun, prompting Dara to fire at his hand. The weapons expert then promised she never missed as Rosa hugged the team. Hours later, the team witnessed Vito's trial. Donovan offered Vito a deal in return for him turning over the names of La Familia agents, but Vito refused to betray his group. For all his crimes, Vito was sentenced to life imprisonment. Nolan then decreed that Marnie was distributing the land between charities to build headquarters, such as Helping Hand and The Divine Purpose (ran by Spencer and Aurora Anderson). Afterwards, Jason detailed that he'd crafted a psych report on Alessandra Moretti but had lost it in the train station during rush hours. Eventually, they recovered Jason's report by the tracks and he analysed it. Jason then revealed his belief that Alessandra, despite her crimes, had a personality which they could use to their advantage. They then confronted Alessandra at the Moretti mansion. Jason then asked Alessandra about the La Familia agents, but Alessandra laughed and insisted that just like her brother didn't crack, she wouldn't either. Jason then insisted that La Familia ruined Vito's life and she shouldn't let it ruin hers too, and after back and forth, Alessandra eventually handed over a memory stick she found in Vito's study. The team then loaded the memory stick in the hanger and soon discovered that La Familia was a triad; Vito founded the organization and was the face of the operation, whereas the other two leaders ran the business sector and funding respectively from the shadows. Now knowing they needed to identify the remaining two leaders of La Familia, Nolan told the team they were heading to Honolulu to meet with Kayla Domino, the team's consultant well-versed with La Familia. Summary Victim *'Kai Moore' (strangled by the clock's hands) Murder Weapon *'Station Clock' Killer *'Alice Crane' Suspects Suspect's Profile *The suspect smokes. *The suspect enjoys gazpacho. *The suspect uses eye drops. Suspect's Appearance *The suspect has a tattoo. Suspect's Profile *The suspect smokes. *The suspect enjoys gazpacho. *The suspect uses eye drops. Suspect's Appearance *The suspect has a tattoo. Suspect's Profile *The suspect smokes. *The suspect enjoys gazpacho. *The suspect uses eye drops. Suspect's Profile *The suspect smokes. *The suspect enjoys gazpacho. *The suspect uses eye drops. Suspect's Appearance *The suspect has a tattoo. Suspect's Profile *The suspect smokes. *The suspect enjoys gazpacho. *The suspect uses eye drops. Suspect's Profile *The suspect smokes. *The suspect enjoys gazpacho. *The suspect uses eye drops. Killer's Profile *The killer smokes. *The killer enjoys gazpacho. *The killer uses eye drops. *The killer has a tattoo. *The killer has green eyes. Quasi-Suspect(s) Crime Scenes Steps Chapter 1 *Investigate Grand Central Station. (Clues: Victim's Body, Frayed Rope, Newspaper Stand, Postcard) *Examine Newspaper Stand. (Result: Circled Photo) *Confront Alice over circling a photo of the victim. *Examine Postcard. (Result: Postcard Location; New Crime Scene: Liberty Island) *Investigate Liberty Island. (Clues: Faded Map, Trash Can) *Examine Faded Map. (Result: Orders from El Royale) *Analyze Orders. (05:00:00; New Suspect: Clifford Kent) *Confront Clifford over being stationed in New York City. (New Suspect: Alessandra Moretti) *Confront Alessandra over La Familia's crimes. *Examine Trash Can. (Result: Police Badge; New Suspect: Marnie Branford) *Interrogate Marnie on her presence in NYC. *Examine Frayed Rope. (Result: Food Substance) *Analyze Food Substance. (07:00:00; Attribute: The killer enjoys gazpacho) *Autopsy Victim's Body. (18:00:00; Attribute: The killer smokes) *Go to Chapter 2. (No stars) Chapter 2 *Interrogate Saffron on her claims. (Attribute: Saffron smokes; New Crime Scene: Moretti Mansion) *Investigate Moretti Mansion. (Clues: Satchel, Broken Object) *Examine Satchel. (Result: Dossier) *Examine Dossier. (Result: Dossier on the Kidnappings; New Suspect: Anastasia Gardenia) *Interrogate Anastasia on investigating the kidnappings. (Attribute: Anastasia enjoys gazpacho) *Examine Broken Object. (Result: Clock Hand) *Analyze Clock Hand. (07:00:00; Attribute: The killer uses eye drops; New Crime Scene: NYC Ferry) *Investigate NYC Ferry. (Clues: Alessandra's Purse, Ring) *Examine Alessandra's Purse. (Result: Communications Device) *Analyze Communications Device. (04:00:00) *Confront Alessandra over monitoring the victim's activity. (Attribute: Alessandra smokes, enjoys gazpacho, and uses eye drops) *Examine Ring. (Result: Engraving) *Confront Marnie over her engagement to Vito. (Attribute: Marnie smokes, enjoys gazpacho, and uses eye drops) *Go to Chapter 3. (No stars) Chapter 3 *Stop Saffron escaping the plane with a gun. (Attribute: Saffron enjoys gazpacho and uses eye drops; New Crime Scene: Marble Archway) *Investigate Marble Archway. (Clues: Cryptex, Brown Sack) *Examine Cryptex. (Result: El Royale Communications) *Examine El Royale Communications. (Result: Extermination Order) *Confront Alice about her ties to El Royale. (Attribute: Alice smokes, enjoys gazpacho, and uses eye drops) *Find out if Clifford killed Kai. (Attribute: Clifford smokes, enjoys gazpacho, and uses eye drops) *Examine Brown Sack. (Result: Fish Heads) *Analyze Fish Heads. (08:00:00) *Speak to Anastasia about Kai's threats. (Attribute: Anastasia smokes and uses eye drops) *Investigate Station Clock. (Clues: Victim's Tie, Bloody Napkin) *Examine Victim's Tie. (Result: Ink) *Analyze Ink. (07:00:00; Attribute: The killer has a tattoo) *Examine Bloody Napkin. (Result: Blood Sample) *Analyze Blood Sample. (04:00:00; Attribute: The killer has green eyes) *Take care of the killer now! *Go to The Butterfly Effect (5/5). (No stars) The Butterfly Effect (5/5) *Investigate Liberty Island. (Clue: Damaged Engraving) *Examine Damaged Engraving. (Result: Braille) *Examine Braille. (Result: Braille Imprint) *Analyze Braille Imprint. (05:00:00; New Quasi-Suspect: Dara O'Donnell) *Help Dara arm the team. (Reward: Bulletproof Jacket; New Quasi-Suspect: Rosa Li) *Rescue Rosa. (New Quasi-Suspect: Vito Moretti) *Witness Vito's trial. (New Quasi-Suspect: Jason Fever) *See how you can help Jason. (Reward: Burger) *Investigate Grand Central Station. (Clue: Jason's Satchel) *Examine Jason's Satchel. (Result: Faded Paper) *Examine Faded Paper. (Result: Psych Report) *Analyze Psych Report. (06:00:00) *Speak to Alessandra about La Familia. (Reward: 20,000 Coins) *Move onto a new crime! (No stars) Navigation Category:All Fanmade Cases Category:Cases of Friend or Foe? Category:North America (FOF)